Day 27: Happiness at different stages of your life
This post is an interlude of my previous posts on my Europe trip. I have wanted to write on this topic for the longest time ever since 2013 but somehow it got saved as a draft and was never published. I am currently reading a book titled, "The Pursuit of Happiness - an economy of well-being" by Carol Graham and had so much insights that I wanted to revive my discussion on this topic.
Carol Graham mentioned two types of happiness - Benthamite sense and Aristotelian sense. Jeremy Bentham's concept of welfare was hedonic utility: maxmising the contentment and pleasure of the greatest number of individuals as they experienced their lives. Aristotle thought of happiness as eudaimonia, a Greek word that combined two concepts: "eu" meaning well-being or abundance, and "daimon" meaning the power controlling an individual's destiny. [Source: Carol Graham]. In simple terms, the former is associated with contentment in day-to-day living whereas the latter looks at the opportunities available to lead a fulfilling life.
For a certain period of time, I did feel very upset with what was going on in my life and how I felt I seem to be drifting away from my long-term goals and what I had EXPECTED myself to achieve. Though I had a lot of leisure time to engage in activities that I enjoy - sports, music, watching dramas, reading, etc. and I had sufficient income to support myself on a daily basis, I did not experience an improvement in my well-being. Sometimes, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling frustrated and upset about what I had done to my life. Neither money nor leisure kept me happy which was odd since economics has taught me that both are key sources of utility that keep people going. It was after my adventures to Europe that I returned with a fresh perspective of life and figured out my next step in life and two months after the new year has begun, I can be very sure that I have been putting my time to good use.
So after reading this book, I have a better sense of the source of my unhappiness or happiness. In the book, the author cited empirical data of how people's happiness or well-being level is a U-shaped function of age. That's why people love to reminisce about their childhood and when they enter retirement, they are also happier. For me, I guess is because I emphasise more on Benthamite sense of happiness as a child/ teenager whereby my needs were pretty simple - food, sleep and fun. However, as I age, I start to focus on searching for a meaning in life. Someone told me that I should ignore my ideals about life and just think about making as much money as I can while I still have the energy and capability. I replied the person with certainty that even if I have loads of money, I will not be truly happy. At that point in time, I had not figure out the reason but after reading this book, I guess I have found the answer.
It was mentioned in the book that there are many causes behind why certain people emphasise Aristotelian sense of happiness (like I do). It could be due to personality, upbringing, personal experiences, agency and capability, etc. People without agency are more likely to be contented with a decent lifestyle on a day to day basis and do not think so much about whether they had led a fulfilling life in their lifetime. There is no right or wrong as to which sense of happiness is more superior since our circumstances could also pretty much shape our ability to search for a particular sense of happiness. So the book mentioned the happiness irony of the "happy peasant vs frustrated achievers". I think a few months ago, I was at the stage of my life whereby I truly felt like a frustrated achiever and that was my main source of unhappiness. Knowing the cause of your own unhappiness is key to helping you overcome your frustrations, IMO. So I cannot ask for a more appropriate timing for this book to appear.
At a certain juncture in my teaching career, I did wonder why I do not foresee myself teaching for the rest of my life though I really enjoy the interaction with the youths and seeing them make progress in their studies and academics. Besides graduate school, I really do not know from where had I found the courage to quit my job and chose to be unemployed instead. I took a pay cut switching to another sector but at no point in my life had I been so sure that teaching is not the route for me for the rest of my life. I guess the joy and satisfaction from teaching is one of Benthemite sense to me and they are unable to fill me in the long term. I dream dreams and I want to accomplish them in order to truly lead a fulfilling life and I am sure I have the ability and determination to realise them if I continue to be steadfast in my pursuits and not give up in the face of setbacks along the way.
2015, you have been a fantastic year thus far and please continue to be! Rather, I will make it happen!
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